‘Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul’: Sundance Review

Dir/scr: Adamma Ebo. US. 2021. 102 mins.

Are hypocrites worth saving — or taking seriously? The religious satire Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul focuses on a disgraced Baptist preacher and his loyal wife, who hope that their megachurch can withstand his recent sexual-misconduct scandal. Writer-director Adamma Ebo (working with her twin sister, producer Adanne Ebo) delivers an uneven but intriguing exploration of faith and human fallibility, guided by gutsy performances from Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown. Sometimes the comedy is too broad, sometimes the targets are too easy, but this acting duo repeatedly reach for something deeper in the material, leaving the viewer uncertain if their characters are manipulators or true believers. 

The results can be comedic, but more often they’re played relatively straight, blurring the line between satire and sincerity

Based on Ebo’s 2018 short, Honk For Jesus screens in Sundance’s Premieres section, and Hall and Brown’s involvement should entice potential buyers. The film, partly shot in a faux-documentary style, takes plenty of shots at organised religion — specifically, the egotists who position themselves as God’s messengers — but even the faithful may find something valuable in its dissection of false prophets and moral corruption.

Trinitie (Hall) and Lee-Curtis Childs (Brown) run the Wander To Greater Paths Baptist Church, which at its peak had about 25,000 followers. But in the wake of multiple sexual-misconduct allegations against Lee-Curtis, the congregation has fled; many of them now part of a rival church led by young married couple Keon (Conphidance) and Shakura (Nicole Beharie). But Lee-Curtis, a charismatic and intense preacher, is determined to rebuild his flock, hiring a documentary crew to film his comeback — much to the consternation of Trinitie, who nonetheless stands by her husband.

Ebo’s feature directorial debut moves between the unseen documentary team’s “footage” and the couple’s unguarded moments when the cameras aren’t around. That description might make Honk For Jesus sound like a mockumentary, but Ebo uses the device in a different way, letting the documentary scenes serve as unvarnished truth that Trinitie and Lee-Curtis don’t want to face about how far they’ve fallen and how desperate they are to reclaim past glory. One of the picture’s funnier running parts is that the pair keep asking “Anita” to cut, but the silent director never obliges, which only makes their discomfort more acute.

In its early stretches, Honk For Jesus runs the risk of being a superficial takedown of for-profit churches, complete with the pompous preacher and the materialistic wife. (Trinitie has a thing for ludicrously big, fancy hats.) Their shamelessness is mildly amusing, but not especially novel — in particular because Hall and Brown seem to be playing familiar types.

But while the picture’s tone can be scattershot and its jokes hit-or-miss, Ebo begins to weave in more interesting plot developments — including the nature of Lee-Curtis’ allegations — which produce unexpected outcomes. As Trinitie and Lee-Curtis inch closer to the grand reopening of their church, it becomes increasingly apparent that their once-robust congregation isn’t coming back, creating a growing despair within the couple. 

The results can be comedic, but more often they’re played relatively straight, blurring the line between satire and sincerity. Ebo and her actors present the audience with a greedy, attention-starved couple who, nonetheless, might actually believe what they preach about the Lord’s ability to save souls. Trinitie and Lee-Curtis sometimes come across as caricatures, but Hall and Brown find depth, even pathos, in them. Near the film’s end when Lee-Curtis practices a pivotal sermon, a tribute to the possibility of redemption, Brown delivers it with such passion that there’s little doubt the character means every word. Is it a brilliant con job or genuine repentance? Honk For Jesus argues that maybe even Lee-Curtis doesn’t know.

With his booming personality, Lee-Curtis is the more magnetic figure, but Hall provides the picture with its soul. Quickly, the actress makes it clear that Trinitie has spent her life cheerfully smiling as a way to push away the anger she feels toward her deeply flawed husband. Trinitie is hardly a saint herself — she can be as vain and petty as Lee-Curtis — but if there’s a sense of true godliness in Honk For Jesus, it’s in how Trinitie has learned to forgive. Hall and Brown are so electric that viewers may be tempted to be similarly lenient when the film occasionally falters.